Holy hell, that's expensive. I also wonder how much this son of a bitch weighs. Even so, it's about time we started seeing some electric bikes with actual usable range.
this post was submitted on 01 Nov 2023
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Is it? There's a lot of touring cruisers in that range.
Why. Motorcycles are already very efficient.
Why not? These bikes are quieter and faster.
My bike isn't rattling any mirrors around me but I do like it to have a bit of rumble. Makes me feel a bit more noticable and on a bike that's well appreciated.
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I get that. It's not like I'm revving my engine in residential areas, but on the interstate I'd rather be more visible and my safety is honestly more important to me than someone's ~~monetary~~ momentary annoyance.
I think you mean momentary annoyance, unless you're talking abou tthe cost of soundproofing homes or something.
Also I agree with the sound thing. Its harder to notice electric vehicles. Some electric bike manufacturers add in vehicle sound artificially so that the safety aspect isn't compromised.
Vanilla is the perfect flavor. Why would anyone want chocolate?
Edit: I also imagine they'll have almost no maintenance needs, like ev cars.
I just realised that less moving parts in ev makes them need much less maintenance
Oh, definitely. I have a Nissan leaf from 2016. So far I have changed the tires, cabin filter, and wiper blades. That's it. 51k miles.
It's an analogy. The point is that maybe some people want to buy an EV even though motorcycles are efficient.
ICE motorbikes are a lot of things, but they're far from efficient, unless you're referring to low power bikes which use around 2l/100km (120 mpg).
Anything at least slightly sporty uses about 3 times as much, which brings it into small car territory (while being smaller and weighing considerably less).
By comparison, electric motorcycles use about 40 to 50% of the energy that an electric car needs. Motorcycle ICE engines are optimized for power in a small package, not for efficiency.
It's a touring bike: More range!
More range than a combustion touring bike?
Quoted from the article: "Highway speeds are said to net 335 km (205 miles).
The motor is no joke either, packing in 90 kW (120 hp) of power and 206 Nm (152 lb-ft) of torque. The company says it can blast the bike up to a top speed of 230 km/h (140 mph)."
The highest number in the article is 410 miles, which can only be achieved at 31mph.
Edit: it recharges to 80% in 20 minutes, given a charger that can run at a high enough rate.
I don't know how all that compares to a combustion bike, is that like half the range?
In 2007, I bought a Ninja 250 for $4000 and change.
For the North American market at the time at least, it had a pretty unique combination of small engine plus large fuel tank. The 250cc twin cylinder engine made about 30 horsepower or so, and it held almost 5 gallons of gas. I routinely made 70mpg with this bike, and that's proper highway riding with saddle bags and such. I would get about 300 miles between fill-ups. Back when I had a 6 mile commute to college, I was paying about $10 a month for gasoline.
I consider it's performance perfectly adequate for American highway needs. Like you know how a Honda Civic is a perfectly cromulent car? It's like that. I could comfortably run with 85 mph traffic on the interstate with power in reserve. I could out-run any sport sedan on the road while making twice the fuel economy.
Mind you, this was a 2007 model EX250F, a design that dated back to 1988. It had carburetors and screw-type valve tappets.
I've still yet to see an electric bike in this price and performance range.
Some lighter bikes can get over 100mpg and have ~8 gallon tanks. Heavier ones are a bit lessefficient but can get 60+mpg or more with some tuning. Those also have much bigger tanks.
Wow! Okay yeah, that's a whole different ballpark
Yeah. When I had a KLX250, I got almost 70mpg but only had a 2gal tank. And it cost under $5k. Also, at 304lb, with a 24hp motor, it had about the same power to weight ratio as a 2020 Ford F-150 Raptor.
In the power to weight ratio, you're forgetting that the rider's weight is significant on a motorcycle but negligible in a car.
That is a solid point, that I did not take into account.
My motorcycle is 330lbs and has 20hp, and with my weight it has about the power to weight ratio of a Prius. It has a slower 0-60 and 2/3 the top speed of a Prius. However, it's a lot more fun and even gets better mpg!
However, it's a lot more fun and even gets better mpg!
Absolutely. I am hoping to end my bike hiatus sooner than later but, really at this point am looking so electric trials/dual-sport (no more highway, was my agreement with my spouse). Having that kind of fun capacity and quiet would be amazing. My major issue at the moment would be a good way to avoid getting stranded, if the battery runs out.
As someone into motorcycling, I disagree. Only the tiny mopeds are getting 100+ mpg. My 250cc gets 65mpg on average. Most big cruisers get 35-45mpg, most middleweight bikes get 40-50mpg, and most fast sport bikes get 30-35mpg, or something like 20 if you're riding it hard.
Still a lot more smiles per gallon than any ICE car.
Can you name me a single make and model of motorcycle available on the American market in the last 20 years that had an 8 gallon fuel capacity? My Ninja held just less than 5 and it had the biggest tank I could find.
205 miles is pretty abysmal for range. Basically any ICE touring or ADV bike can beat that and it's much cheaper.
No, that's not abysmal. Have you seen the other electric motorcycles? The new electric Ninjas get like 40 miles of range, and the more expensive Live wire gets 100-150. The Zeros probably also get 75-150 miles of range at highway speeds.
For another perspective, my ICE Suzuki GZ250 gets something like 170 miles to a tank at highway speeds, but I don't have a fuel gauge so I refill every 100-130 miles. Other ICE motorcycles like some Harley-Davidson Sportsters get just 100 miles in a full tank of gas due to a small tank and big engine. The fast sport bikes tend to get about 150. Even the Goldwing, a luxury touring motorcycle, gets about 190 miles to a tank.
It's rare to see 200+ miles of range in an ICE motorcycle at highway speeds, so I think it's quite impressive to get this range in an electric motorcycle at highway speeds. The charging speed also seems quite good, as I'd probably want a 20 minute break after 175 miles of riding. The only thing that sucks is the high price, you can get a brand new Hayabusa for 20% less than this.
I hAvE tO hEaR tEh vRoOm VrOoM
I really appreciate Lemmy for the thoughtful disagreements. This ain't that, friend.
My motorcycle makes about as much noise as a Civic. So you may not know what you're talking about.
You’re not the problem. De-mufflered Harely owners are a fucking pain in the ass. Unfortunately they won’t really be enticed to buy electric because being annoying pieces of shit is a huge part of their identity.
I hear loud exhausts on all sorts of motorcycles, not just harleys. In fact, my very quiet motorcycle is a harley, and it's going to stay quiet. The finish on the factory exhaust is a much better quality than the finish on an aftermarket exhaust, and I don't want the pipes to look like faded rusted shit in five years, which is what tends to happen with aftermarket pipes.
Our ears all thank you, and I did mention the muffler-less bikes in my comment, but I also happen to live around 1/2 mile from a Harley dealership and enough of them are obnoxiously loud that it’s clear who their target audience is.
That and the fact that their electric bike has so far, failed to garner more than a test ride or 2.
Their electric bike isn't going to sell when Zero has EV bikes for half the price. Originally the Livewire was $30,000 amd there's no way it's worth that. I think now they're "only" $22k but you can get a Pan America for that and it will go more than 90 miles.